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FL: Pinellas County Jail drops $8 co-pay for prisoners doctor visits

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Pinellas County Jail drops $8 co-pay for inmates' doctor visits By Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer In Print: Sunday, September 20, 2009 LARGO ? The Pinellas County Jail will no longer charge an $8 co-payment to inmates seeking medical care, forfeiting an estimated $50,000 in annual revenue from a policy that jail officials said created more problems than profit. The jail used co-pays to help offset millions of dollars in medical bills and discourage requests for unnecessary treatments or bogus ailments. Most medical insurance does the same thing. In 1995, when the co-pays began, jail officials told the Times that the charges had cut demand for care in half, an early sign that they were clearing waiting rooms of all but those with real medical need...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on September 24, 2009 (boomark / email).